Air inflow interruptible tube container

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an air inflow interruptible tube container. The air inflow interruptible tube container can prevent a corruption of contents, by installing a nozzle rising and opened by a pressure of contents inside an outlet part to allow the nozzle to be opened only when the contents are discharged, maintaining a closed state of an outlet hole of the nozzle unless the contents are discharged even when a cap is opened, and thus preventing air from flowing into a tube body through the outlet hole.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims priority under 35U.S.C. §119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0036120, filed onApr. 6, 2012, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention disclosed herein relates to an air inflowinterruptible tube container, and more particularly, to an air inflowinterruptible tube container which can prevent a corruption of contents,by installing a nozzle rising and opened by a pressure of contentsinside an outlet part to allow the nozzle to be opened only when thecontents are discharged, maintaining a closed state of an outlet hole ofthe nozzle unless the contents are discharged even when a cap is opened,and thus preventing air from flowing into a tube body through the outlethole.

Generally, tube containers include a tube body containing contents, atube neck coupled to an upper portion of the tube body to support thetube body and including an outlet hole for discharging the contentscontained in the tube body, and a cap detachably coupled to the tubeneck to open and close the outlet hole.

The tube containers are used by separating the cap from the tube bodyand then pressurizing the tube body to discharge the contents throughthe outlet hole. In a state where the cap is opened, since the outlethole is always exposed to the outside, air may flow into the tube body.Accordingly, the contents may be corrupted.

Also, when the contents are directly spread on an affected part bypressurizing the tube body, contaminants around the affected part may bemixed with the contents that are discharged. In this case, when the tubebody is depressurized after the spreading of the contents, the contentsare taken into the tube body due to the internal pressure of the tubebody, allowing the contaminants mixed with the contents to be stuck toan inner wall of the outlet hole or to flow into the tube body and thuscorrupt the contents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an air inflow interruptible tubecontainer which can prevent a corruption of contents, by installing anozzle rising and opened by a pressure of contents inside an outlet partto allow the nozzle to be opened only when the contents are discharged,maintaining a closed state of an outlet hole of the nozzle unless thecontents are discharged even when a cap is opened, and thus preventingair from flowing into a tube body through the outlet hole.

The present invention also provides an air inflow interruptible tubecontainer which can prevent a corruption of contents, by preventingcontents remaining on an outlet hole from being discharged to theoutside and then taken into the inside again through rising and fallingoperations of an external nozzle and thus preventing the contentscontaminated by the direct spreading of the contents on an affected partfrom sticking to the inside of the nozzle or flowing into the tube body.

Embodiments of the present invention provide air inflow interruptibletube containers including: a tube body containing contents and includingan outlet part formed at an upper portion thereof to discharge thecontents; an internal nozzle including a coupling part inserted into theoutlet part and having a content inflow hole communicating with theoutlet part, and a blocking rod upwardly protruding from a centralportion of the coupling part; an external nozzle seated on an upper endof the coupling part while covering the blocking rod, rising and fallingby a pressure of the contents, and open and closed by the blocking rod;a fixing body coupled to an inner side of the outlet part while coveringa portion of the external nozzle and including a hollow part to allowthe external nozzle to rise and fall; an elastic body disposed insidethe fixing body while surrounding the external nozzle to allow theexternal nozzle to fall; and a closing cap coupled to an outer side ofthe outlet part while covering the internal nozzle and the externalnozzle.

In some embodiments, the external nozzle may include: a seating parthaving a piston structure in which an upper end portion and a lower endportion of an outer circumferential surface thereof contact an innerwall surface of the fixing body; and a content movement tube upwardlyextending from the seating part to form a passage through which thecontents move and having an outlet hole opened/closed by the blockingrod.

In other embodiments, the fixing body may include a seating stoppersurrounding an outer circumferential surface of the fixing body andseated on an upper end of the outlet part and a fixing protrusion formedunder the seating stopper to be fixed to an inner side of the outletpart.

In still other embodiments, the fixing body may include an elastic bodysupporting stopper formed at an upper end of the fixing body to supportthe elastic body while surrounding an inner circumferential surface ofthe fixing body.

In even other embodiments, the internal nozzle may include a blockingprotrusion formed at a lower end thereof to block the contents movingthrough the outlet part from leaking out of the internal nozzle.

In yet other embodiments, the closing cap may include a pressurizingprotrusion formed an upper portion of an inner side thereof topressurize the external nozzle.

In further embodiments, the closing cap may include a couplingrestriction protrusion formed on an inner side of the closing cap andseated on the seating stopper of the fixing body to restrictscrew-coupling when the closing cap is screw-coupled to the outlet part

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the present invention, and are incorporated in andconstitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrateexemplary embodiments of the present invention and, together with thedescription, serve to explain principles of the present invention. Inthe drawings:

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view illustrating a configuration ofan air inflow interruptible tube container according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration ofan air inflow interruptible tube container according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an airinflow interruptible tube container according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention; and

FIG. 4 a and FIG. 4 b are views illustrating an operational state of anair inflow interruptible tube container according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described belowin more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The presentinvention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not beconstructed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete, and will fully convey the scope of the present inventionto those skilled in the art.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thesame reference numerals provided in the drawings indicate the samemembers.

FIG. 1 is an assembled perspective view illustrating a configuration ofan air inflow interruptible tube container according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspectiveview illustrating a configuration of an air inflow interruptible tubecontainer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of an airinflow interruptible tube container according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention. FIGS. 4 a-4 b are views illustrating anoperational state of an air inflow interruptible tube containeraccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 b, an air inflow interruptible tube containeraccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention mayinclude a tube body 100, an internal nozzle 200, an external nozzle 300,a fixing body 400, an elastic body 500, and a closing cap 600.

The tube body 100 may contain contents, and include an outlet part 100coupled to an upper portion of the tube body 100 so as to discharge thecontents. The outlet part 110 may include a first screw thread 111 onthe outer circumferential surface of the outlet part 110 so as to bescrew-coupled to the closing cap 600 described later.

The internal nozzle 200 may be inserted into the outlet part 110 toguide the contents moving through the outlet part 110 and open and closethe external nozzle 300 described later. The internal nozzle 200 mayinclude a coupling part 210 and a blocking rod 220.

The coupling part 210 may be inserted into the outlet part 110 to guidethe contents moving through the outlet part 110. The coupling part 210may have a content inflow hole 211 formed at the upper portion thereofto communicate with the outlet part 110 and thus enable the inflow ofthe contents discharged through the outlet part 110. In the contentinflow hole 211, a plurality of extending parts 212 may be disposed at auniform interval to extend from the inner circumferential surface of thecoupling part 210 to the central portion thereof.

The coupling part 210 may include a coupling protrusion 213 formed onthe outer circumferential surface thereof to be coupled to a couplinggroove 450 of the fixing body 400 described later.

Also, the coupling part 210 may include a blocking protrusion 214 formedat a lower end thereof to contact a lower end of the inner side of theoutlet part 110 such that the contents moving through the outlet part110 is prevented from leaking to the outside of the internal nozzle 220.

The blocking rod 220 may upwardly protrude from the central portion ofthe coupling part 210 at which the plurality of extending parts 212 meeteach other, and may open and close an outlet hole 321 of the externalnozzle 300 according to the rising and falling of the external nozzle300.

The blocking rod 220 may include a protrusion part 221 formed at the endportion thereof and protruding to the outside of the external nozzle 300so as to prevent the contents from being stuck in a space that theoutlet hole 321 of the external nozzle 300 defines.

Since the protrusion part 221 is formed on the blocking rod 220, it iseasy to distinguish the opening/closing of the nozzle according to themovement of the nozzle from the outside.

The external nozzle 300 may be seated on the upper end of the couplingpart 210 while covering the blocking rod 220, and may rise and fall bythe pressure of the contents while being opened/closed by the blockingrod 220. The external nozzle 300 may include a seating part 310 and acontent movement tube 320.

The seating part 310 may be seated on the upper end of the coupling part210 of the internal nozzle 200 to support the elastic body 500 describedlater. The seating part 310 may support the lower end of the elasticbody 500 surrounding the content movement tube 320 to pressurize theelastic body 500 and thus contract the elastic body 500 when theexternal nozzle 300 rises according to the discharge of the contents. Onthe other hand, when the discharge of the contents is finished, theexternal nozzle 300 may fall due to the elastic force of the elasticbody 500.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the seating part310 may have a cylindrical shape, and may be configured to have a pistonstructure in which the upper end and lower end of the outercircumferential surface of the seating part 310 contact the inner wallsurface of the fixing body 400. Thus, when the external nozzle 300 risesor falls, the external nozzle 300 may be prevented from rocking,enabling the contents to be uniformly discharged and preventing thecontents from leaking along the inner wall of the fixing body 400.

The content movement tube 320 may upwardly extend from the seating part310, forming a passage through which the contents introduced through thecontent inflow hole 211 of the internal nozzle 200 can move. The contentmovement tube 320 may have the outlet hole 321 formed at the end ofthereof and opened/closed by the blocking rod 220 so as to enable theintroduced contents to be discharged to the outside.

The fixing body 400 may be formed to have a cylindrical shape thatcovers a portion of the external nozzle 300 and is coupled to the innerside of the outlet part 110. The fixing body 400 may have a hollow part410 in which the external nozzle 300 moving along the discharge of thecontents can rise and fall, and may cover the outer circumferentialsurface so as to be seated on the upper end of the outlet part 110. Thefixing body 400 may include a seating stopper 420.

In this embodiment, the fixing body 400 may include a fixing protrusion430 formed under the seating stopper 420 and fixed to a fixing groove120 of the outlet part 110. Since the nozzle is simply installed in thetube container by coupling the fixing protrusion 430 to the fixinggroove 112 of the outlet part 110 after integrally modularizing theinternal nozzle 200, the external nozzle 300, the fixing body 400, andthe elastic body 500, it is possible to prevent air from flowing intothe tube body 100 when the closing cap 600 is opened.

Meanwhile, the fixing body 400 may include an elastic body supportingstopper 440 bent toward the inside at the upper end thereof, surroundingthe inner circumferential surface thereof, and thus supporting theelastic body 500 described later. The elastic body supporting stopper440 may support the upper end of the elastic body 500 to contract theelastic body 500 when the external nozzle 300 rises.

Also, the fixing body 400 may have a coupling groove 450 formed on aninner side of the fixing body 400 and corresponding to the couplingprotrusion 210 so as to be coupled to the internal nozzle 200.

The elastic body 500 may surround the external nozzle 300 inside thefixing body 400, and may move down the external nozzle 300. The elasticbody may have one side seated on the seating part 310, and may have theother side contacting the elastic body supporting stopper 440 of thefixing body 400.

The elastic body 500 may contract according to the movement of theexternal nozzle 300 due to the pressure of the contents when the tubebody 100 is pressurized, and may expand when the tube body 100 isdepressurized, providing an elastic force to the seating part 310 of theexternal nozzle 300 and thus allowing the external nozzle 300 to fall.

The closing cap 600 may cover the internal nozzle 200 and the externalnozzle 300, and may be screw-coupled to the outside of the outlet part111. The closing cap 600 may have include a second screw thread 640formed in the inner circumferential surface thereof and coupled to thefirst screw thread 111 so as to be screw-coupled to the outlet part 110.

In this embodiment, the closing cap 600 may include a pressurizingprotrusion 610 formed on an upper portion of the inside thereof andpressurizing the external nozzle 300. The pressurizing protrusion 610may pressurize the upper end of the external nozzle 300 to restrict therising of the external nozzle 300, thereby preventing the contents frombeing discharged even when the tube body 100 is pressurized while theclosing cap 600 is being closed. Thus, it is possible to prevent thecontents from being unnecessarily consumed, and prevent the inside ofthe closing cap 600 from being contaminated by the leakage of thecontents.

The closing cap 600 may include a coupling restriction protrusion 620that is provided inside the closing cap 600 and is seated on the seatingstopper 420 of the fixing body 400 to restrict the screw coupling whenthe closing cap 600 is screw-coupled to the outlet part 110. When theclosing cap 600 is forcedly coupling to the outlet part 110, theexternal nozzle 300 may be excessively inserted and caught in theinternal 200 by the pressurizing of the pressurizing protrusion 610.Accordingly, the malfunction of the nozzle can be prevented by allowingthe coupling restriction protrusion 620 provided inside the closing cap600 to contact the seating stopper 420 and thus restrict the screwcoupling of the closing cap 600.

On the other hand, the closing cap 600 may include an anti-slipprotrusion 630 on the outer circumferential surface thereof tofacilitate the screw coupling and separation with/from the outlet part110.

Hereinafter, an operation process of an air inflow interruptible tubecontainer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present inventionwill be described with reference to FIGS. 4 a-4 b.

FIGS. 4 a-4 b are views illustrating an operational state of an airinflow interruptible tube container according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 4 a-4 b, in the air inflowinterruptible tube container according to the exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention, when the outlet hole 321 of the external nozzle300 is closed by the blocking rod 220 of the internal nozzle 200 and thetube body 100 is pressurized, the contents may upwardly move through theoutlet part 110, and then may flow into the content movement tube 320 ofthe external nozzle 300 through the content inflow hole 211.

As described above, while the contents are flowing into the contentmovement tube 320, a pressure may be applied to the external nozzle 300by the contents, allowing the external nozzle 300 to rise. When theexternal nozzle 300 rises, the outlet hole 321 that is being closed bythe blocking rod 220 of the internal nozzle 200 may be opened, allowingthe contents to be discharged to the outside through the outlet hole321.

On the other hand, when the tube body 100 is depressurized, the contentsmay stop moving. In this case, the elastic body 500 that is contractedaccording to the rising of the external nozzle 300 may be stretched,providing an elastic force to external nozzle 300 and thus allowing theexternal nozzle 300 to fall. When the external nozzle 300 falls, theoutlet hole 321 may be closed by the blocking rod 220 of the internalnozzle 200, thereby blocking the contents from being discharged.

As described above, an air inflow interruptible tube container accordingto an embodiment of the present invention can prevent a corruption ofcontents, by installing a nozzle rising and opened by a pressure ofcontents inside an outlet part to allow the nozzle to be opened onlywhen the contents are discharged, maintaining a closed state of anoutlet hole of the nozzle unless the contents are discharged even when acap is opened, and thus preventing air from flowing into a tube bodythrough the outlet hole.

Also, the air inflow interruptible tube container can prevent acorruption of contents, by preventing contents remaining on an outlethole from being discharged to the outside and then taken into the insideagain through rising and falling operations of an external nozzle andthus preventing the contents contaminated by the direct spreading of thecontents on an affected part from sticking to the inside of the nozzleor flowing into the tube body.

The above-disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative andnot restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all suchmodifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall withinthe true spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximumextent allowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to bedetermined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the followingclaims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited bythe foregoing detailed description.

What is claimed is:
 1. An air inflow interruptible tube containercomprising: a tube body containing contents and comprising an outletpart formed at an upper portion thereof to discharge the contents; aninternal nozzle comprising a coupling part inserted into the outlet partand having a content inflow hole communicating with the outlet part, anda blocking rod upwardly protruding from a central portion of thecoupling part; an external nozzle seated on an upper end of the couplingpart while covering the blocking rod, rising and falling by a pressureof the contents, and open and closed by the blocking rod; a fixing bodycoupled to an inner side of the outlet part while covering a portion ofthe external nozzle and comprising a hollow part to allow the externalnozzle to rise and fall; an elastic body disposed inside the fixing bodywhile surrounding the external nozzle to allow the external nozzle tofall; and a closing cap coupled to an outer side of the outlet partwhile covering the internal nozzle and the external nozzle.
 2. The airinflow interruptible tube container of claim 1, wherein the externalnozzle comprises: a seating part having a piston structure in which anupper end portion and a lower end portion of an outer circumferentialsurface thereof contact an inner wall surface of the fixing body; and acontent movement tube upwardly extending from the seating part to form apassage through which the contents move and having an outlet holeopened/closed by the blocking rod.
 3. The air inflow interruptible tubecontainer of claim 1, wherein the fixing body comprises a seatingstopper surrounding an outer circumferential surface of the fixing bodyand seated on an upper end of the outlet part and a fixing protrusionformed under the seating stopper to be fixed to an inner side of theoutlet part.
 4. The air inflow interruptible tube container of claim 1,wherein the fixing body comprises an elastic body supporting stopperformed at an upper end of the fixing body to support the elastic bodywhile surrounding an inner circumferential surface of the fixing body.5. The air inflow interruptible tube container of claim 1, wherein theinternal nozzle comprises a blocking protrusion formed at a lower endthereof to block the contents moving through the outlet part fromleaking out of the internal nozzle.
 6. The air inflow interruptible tubecontainer of claim 1, wherein the closing cap comprises a pressurizingprotrusion formed an upper portion of an inner side thereof topressurize the external nozzle.
 7. The air inflow interruptible tubecontainer of claim 3, wherein the closing cap comprises a couplingrestriction protrusion formed on an inner side of the closing cap andseated on the seating stopper of the fixing body to restrictscrew-coupling when the closing cap is screw-coupled to the outlet part.